Third Time Lucky
by VioTanequil
Summary: He is Ukitake. He is the person everyone comes to when they need a shoulder to lean on, ear to pour grievances into. He is the unofficial counselor of the Gotei 13 and he knows it. Hitsugaya Toshiro stood no chance whatsoever.


He's been around for quite some time, and it's a sort of joke, between him and Shunsui now. Loud, big birthday bashes are so last century. They are old. Old. Old. Old. Old. Old. Not as old as Genyuursai-sensei, or those folks down at the Noble Houses, their Elders. Not quite that old, but still old enough. Old enough to be teachers and mentors to a whole new generation. Old enough to be parents to that same generation. He is old enough that people no longer question his hair color, taking it that he is indeed as old as it tells them it is, when it actually isn't. Yes, Ukitake knows, he is old.

He's old, and he knows it. And he's not too sure, really, whether being old is a good thing. Too many friends have come and gone, too many colleagues have come and gone. And perhaps time does pass a little differently here in Seireitei. Everything seems to be so much slower.

Perhaps it's the lack of change. Because Seireitei hasn't changed in a long time, and he would know that. He has been around for that period of time. And there is a lot he has seen. He's seen things that most others have yet to see, things that most others will never have to see, things like that. Too many things he did not want to see, too many things he did not want to happen, too many things, really.

And it's not really the events, or the things that happen. It's the people that affect him most. He's a people person. There is a certain charm around him that makes people want to talk to him, want to socialize with him, because they know that Ukitake-taicho always has good advice for them, because they know that Ukitake-taicho is a great shoulder to cry on, a great ear to pour their grievances into.

He doesn't mind, really, because someone has to do it, and it's not that he likes doing it, rather, he feels that he can do it, and that he is suited to doing it, and over time, he has grown to like it. He likes the fact that people do not mind pouring out their souls to him, because they trust him. He likes the fact that people do not mind sitting down, and talking things through, sitting down and listening, questioning, learning from him. He likes the fact that he can help these people, because he's seen so much that he doesn't want repeated, and this is the only way he can ensure that.

He's seen changes, changes in personality, drastic changes in personality. Of course, not many people would believe him when he says that Kuchiki-taicho used to be the most adorable little boy he had ever seen. Most of them can't even think about the name 'Kuchiki-taicho' without getting nervous.

Of course, not many people would believe him when he says that Kurotsuchi-taicho is actually handsome behind that mask of his, having proper features and all. Most of the shinigami hear the name 'Kurotsuchi' and break out in sweat.

And it's things like that. Of course, Jyuushiro knows that there are people out there who probably haven't changed. Kisuke, for one. The cheeky little mad scientist is probably still working on ways to overcharge his customers, and come up with hare-brained schemes which almost always work. And from what he's seen when Yoruichi sneaks back from time to time, she doesn't seem to be any different. Perhaps a little slower than usual, but that's still normal.

As for drastic changes in personality, he's seen quite a few of those. Bya-kun, for one, is completely different from the first time he met him. Mayuri, or Ma-chan as the demented scientist's superior officer used to call him, is now completely different. Goodness knows what the man did to himself. Not to mention his voice.

He does remember that when they were younger (or at least when Mayuri was younger, because Jyuushiro was young a long long time before that, and although he can still remember it, it is the people who are no longer around that he spent his time with.), that said scientist did have a rather pleasant singing voice. Granted, not many shinigami can think about that without breaking out in shivers, quivering in a dark corner somewhere.

But well, things happen, people change. He made the mistake of leaving them alone when that happened. He knows it was not completely his fault, that most of the others had played a part in what had happened to some of the others in their midst. But still, he is Ukitake. He is the person everyone comes to when they need a shoulder to lean on, ear to pour grievances into. He is the unofficial counselor of the Gotei 13 and he knows it. He has made mistakes yes, but he should not have made such major ones, and definitely not twice.

First, it had been Byakuya. He had left the little noble alone, well, actually all of them had, even those around his age, the Shibas, Yoruichi, and Kisuke. True, they used to play poker together rather often, but poker was not a social sport. He knew that Bya-kun was rarely included in their schemes, mostly due to his own reticence and reluctance. And it had not turned out well. Nope. (Dude, that guy was an ice block. It said a lot that he probably had the most feminine zanpakuto every wielded by a guy, and that shockingly enough, no one had teased him about it. No one dared to.)

And then, he had left Mayuri alone after his captain had so suddenly abandoned him. Granted, Kurotsuchi was not very nice, but hey, Jyuushiro was well-known for being nice to everyone, and besides, having known him for some time did give him some chance. Perhaps then he would not have his face in that queer mask all the time. (Now, the scientist spent most, if not all of his time in his laboratories, working up things that really, no one else understood.)

He had been given a second chance, many chances, really. And he had just been given a new one, in the form of a short, grumpy and equally white-haired new taicho. Hitsugaya Toshiro. The kid was new to the block, and there was loads that he could do to help. He did not want to be working with yet another mask-wearing Kurotsuchi, nor did the Gotei need another paperwork processing machine of a Kuchiki. They needed a person in charge of Tenth, they needed a captain, a soldier, a person, and he, Ukitake Jyuushiro, was going to make sure that did not happen.

And after consultation with Shunsui, which on hindsight had not been very productive, since it was Shunsui, he came to a conclusion. He was going to treat the kid like a kid, no matter what anyone else saw him as. To him, Shiro-kun was just another kid, sure, a grumpy genius of a kid, but still a kid.

And so it was that he sent Sentarou and Kiyone out the next day to Rukongai to purchase as much candy as they could from the small amount of money he gave to the each of them. Kaien would probably do the job relatively well, but his two competitive third-seats were so overly enthusiastic that he was sure that they would be absolutely brilliant at this. (Kaien on the other hand was enamored with his wife, Miyako, and no candy would be bought.)

And he was right, as shown by the slightly uneasy look on Shiro-kun's face when he cornered him the next day and unloaded half of Kiyone's bag of sweets onto the young prodigy, grinning broadly from ear to ear as he did so. Cutting in when he tried to splutter and decline, Ukitake cut him no slack. His new lieutenant, Rangiku-san, a close associate of Shunsui, was standing right behind him, and it would not look good on him to decline such a wonderful gift from such a nice person. Exactly how he wanted it to play out.

After all, Ukitake was old. Quite old. Fine. Very old. He had centuries of experience behind him, centuries of experience of plotting, scheming, and pranking. Not to mention, he had been friends with the most dastardly scheming group of Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kuukaku. In addition, he did need to deal with an equally scheming Shunsui on a daily basis. Seeing through his friends' plans came as easy as breathing. Making plans to toy with them was his specialty.

Hitsugaya Toshiro stood no chance whatsoever.

Third time lucky, eh?


End file.
